Chapter 111 Start
On the night of July 23, 1894, Pearl Harbor.
"Is it all done?"
The dock of the Hawaii shipyard is brightly lit. The newly modified destroyers Swordfish and Flying Fish are like two black sharks, quietly docked at the dock. Next to them, there are several larger shadows, the Polaris and the Antarctic Star, with four determination-class heavy cruisers, finally returned for the first time. Pearl Harbor Bay.
Although they are still entering the port in the name of the Chilean navy and still flying the Chilean navy flag, some people already know that in a few days, they will join the Pacific Fleet and become the core force of the fleet.
Looking at the six figures in the dark, Li Mo suddenly felt an unprecedented sense of heroism in his heart. This is his warship and his fleet. From today on, they will become their strongest force. The direction of their fingers is their goal! The roar is the roar of the cannon! They will use huge steel bodies for themselves! For the whole nation! Blow away that dusty memory and change the shame like a mountain!
"Young master, please be relieved. The ground test has passed. It depends on the results of this sea test." Chang Lin rubbed his hands with an excited face. Unlike Li Mo's attention to the fleet, his eyes were always on the back of several warships' command towers, temporarily equipped with high metal rods.
That is, the radio has been secretly developed for more than a year. Since the young master got an electronic tube after the Chicago World Expo, this plan has been in high-speed research and development, and now it is finally going to be tested on the ship!
In fact, as early as two months ago, the radio had been secretly tested between several large islands in Hawaii, and the results were exciting. Therefore, Li Mo requested the immediate development of a radio telegraph that can be installed on a surface ship. You should know that the sea is not as strong as that on land. It not only shakes heavily, but also has large water vapor and sufficient salt spray, which has high requirements for electronic devices.
For the sake of safety, several ships with priority modification have carried several spares. Now everything is ready. Wait for the maritime test to start tomorrow. If it can be passed, the radio telegraph will be officially announced.
"Tomorrow may be a new beginning!"
Looking at the fish white at dawn in the sky, a cold star suddenly lit up in the depths of Li Mo's eyes: "Today, the mountain is about to start!"
---------
---------
The red day rose up, and in an instant, he lit up the sea and faced the sun. Fang Boqian, who stared at the telescope, subconsciously closed his right eye, but when he opened it again, several thick columns of smoke had jumped on the horizon.
"Unknown fleet found."
The alarm sound spread all over the warship in an eye. Some sailors who had just woken up quickly grabbed their clothes and ran to their posts in the shouts of their companions.
"The gun is ready."
"The tail gun is ready."
........
After the gunner Wang Guocheng stuffed a huge shell into the gun, he shouted at the copper pipe next to him. With a loud shout from the copper pipe to the bridge, the Jiyuan ship was like a dangerous hyena, raised its mane all over its body, and soon entered a state of battle. Everyone was looking at the thick columns of smoke, and the forehead dripped sweat from a lot of exercise or tension.
"Left full rudder, full speed!"
"Order the Guangyi ship to move closer and order the whole ship to prepare for the battle!"
With the order, a large amount of black smoke quickly emerged from the chimney of the Jiyuan. A few shocks accompanied by a loud noise, and the warship began to accelerate slowly. But before it ran far, the ship suddenly shook, and the speed suddenly dropped.
"What's going on!" Fang Boqian stood in the bridge and shouted with a nervous face.
"It may still be the old problem of the boiler!" Shen Shouchang was also short of breath and ran over to explain.
"Damn it!" Fang Boqian jumped, stamped the bridge deck fiercely, and shouted angrily, "Qinghe, it's up to you to take my place temporarily. Remember, don't shoot first!" After saying that, he immediately rushed out of the bridge and ran to the boiler compartment. As he ran, he said fiercely, "I'm going down and have a look. It's the blind man who strikes at this time!"
"Yes." Shen Shouchang didn't have time to stop him, so he had to answer quickly and temporarily took the position of command. As Fang Boqian left, several huge columns of smoke in the distance finally appeared.
"Report, I found that the Yoshino, the Naniwa, and the Akizushu are approaching me quickly!"
Hearing the report, Shen Shouchang's heart skipped a beat. Unexpectedly, he met these three fast ships with great speed! At this time, the adult has gone down to the boiler room to check the situation in person. What if I suddenly fire?
Looking at the three Japanese warships getting closer and closer, Shen Shouchang raised his throat. At this moment, a sudden loud sound broke the tranquility of the sea!
In an moment, a huge wave column appeared not far from the Jiyuan ship. Shen Shouchang quickly raised his telescope and saw a large amount of smoke spewing out from the front end of the Yoshino, saying that he had fought irredeclared!!
"It's too late to wait until Guan brings the adult back!" After Shen Shouchang and the second assistant Ke Jianzhang beside him looked at each other, he gritted his teeth and shouted, "Your excellency has explained that I will temporarily command and fire!"
"Fire!"
The roar followed the sea breeze, and soon spread to everyone's ears of the Jiyuan and Guangyi ships. The two ships fired back at the same time. In an hour, the gunfire rumbled on the sea. The first naval battle in the First Sino-Japanese naval battle, the Fengdao naval battle finally began.
"Aim at Yoshino and fire!"
Shen Shouchang, like everyone else, is very afraid of the cruiser that has just been launched, especially the other party's speed of 23 knots, which is 8 knots higher than the Jiyuan ship. If you don't kill the other party as soon as possible, once you fall into a melee and be inserted between the two ships by the other party, it will be easily divided and annihilated by the dominant Japanese warships. .
When the Guangyi saw that Jiyuan aimed all the muzzons at the front of the Yoshino, it immediately turned its head and began to attack Yoshino, hoping to quickly solve the biggest opponent with the power of the two ships.
At this time, a shell hit the front deck of the Jiyuan ship and immediately made a big hole in the deck. The bow of the Jiyuan seemed to be pressed by something and suddenly sank down.
Fortunately, the shell did not damage the main gun of the bow, and only a few gunners were injured. Ke Jianzhang immediately organized the prepared gunners and personally led the team into the diffuse smoke.
"Boom..."
As the Langsu and Qiujinzhou also caught up, the war situation was in anxiety. The sea was full of columns of water stirred up after the shells fell. The sea was boiling, and both sides were like gamblers with red eyes, firing desperately.
Jiyuan and Guangyi want to sink Yoshino as soon as possible, which can save the disadvantages in quantity and speed, while the three ships want to surround each other party as soon as possible and cut the pile of Jiyuan and Guangyi with speed.
But at this time, the three ships not only have an advantage in tonnage and quantity, but also have an obvious advantage in speed. Basically, they are fighting around the Jiyuan ship and Guangyi. In particular, all three ships have adopted new types of rapid-fire guns, which are much faster than Jiyuan and Guangyi. The shells are poured on Jiyuan and Guangyi like a rainstorm. In addition, they fired first without declaration, which has a great advantage!
In less than a while, the Guangyi ship was hit first. The huge explosion lifted the front deck, and the unexpected sailors were lifted into the sea one after another. What's more fatal was that a shell hit the rudder of the Guangyi ship, and its speed with the Jiyuan maneuver suddenly slowed down a lot.
In the cabin passage at this moment, Fang Boqian was even more anxious. As soon as he arrived at the boiler room, he heard the sound of gunfire. He didn't care to check the situation of the boiler again. He only ordered to repair it as soon as possible, and then ran to the bridge quickly.
When he was just about to set foot on the bridge, Yoshino's shell accurately hit the bridge of Jiyuan. In an instant, Shen Shouchang's plasma splashed not far away and immediately fell into a pool of blood, and the aroused blood and brain was sprinkled on Fang Boqian's robe like raindrops, like a bloodman.
"Qinghe! "Qinghe!" Despite the blood all over his body, Fang Boqian rushed up and hugged Shen Shouchang, who was only half of his head, and looked up to the sky and roared, "I hurt you!" I'm the one who hurt you!"
At this time, Ke Jianzhang rushed in with blood. He didn't care about the sadness of his companions and shouted, "Your Excellency, find a way quickly. Guangyi is dying!"
Fang Boqian quickly got up and saw that the Guangyi ship, which had been damaged by the steering gear, had begun to rotate. He gritted his teeth and burst into tears! Hurry up so that the Guangyi ship no longer has to care about itself and take the lead in withdrawing from the battle!
As the Guangyi ship retreated to the west coast of North Korea, the Jiyuan ship was surrounded by three Japanese cruisers. Knowing that it would die, the whole ship aroused everyone's heart, and a shell fell on the three Japanese warships like long eyes.
"The dog said!"
The tail gunners Wang Guocheng and Li Shimao spit, stuffed the few remaining shells into the gun barrel, and began to adjust the muzzle, aiming at the most vigorous Yoshino next to them.
After the two sides hit a few shots, a large amount of gunfire smoke began to spread. The hard-supporting Jiyuan ship finally attracted the best time to break through. While the smoke was lingering and the enemy on the sea was inseparable, Fang Boqian decisively issued an order to retreat and hung the American flag to confuse the other party.
But he didn't expect that something was still happening. Just as he made the order to retreat, the two troop carriers, the Gaosheng and the Qianjiang, suddenly appeared in the distance. Because the smoke drifted with the wind, the sight of the sea was greatly reduced. Fang Boqian played the flag many times, but the other party did not see it, but plunged into the center of the battlefield.
The Langsu and Akizusu, who were chasing behind, also saw two troop carriers. They took the lead in turning and rushing over, preparing to shell two unprepared troop carriers, while Yoshino bit the Jiyuan ship, hoping to sink Jiyuan by relying on speed.
Wang Guocheng stared at the getting bigger and bigger Yoshino outside the ventilation window, spitting and nodded to Li Shimao. The latter immediately fired a gun suddenly. The violent vibration made everyone in the turret crooked, and the smell of choking made people's eyes black.
But without waiting for everyone to recover, the kingdom's achievements have shouted and jumped up. It turned out that the shell accurately hit the front deck of the Yoshino, causing the other side to temporarily lose the main main gun.
Li Shimao and his friends also trembled excitedly because of this shot. They hurriedly fired two more shots. I don't know if it was God's favor. Three shells hit the Yoshino like eyes, and immediately beat the other party to tears, and there was a raging fire on the front deck!
The Yoshino, who was suddenly confused, was too scared to chase him again. He took the initiative to slow down and put out the fire with all his strength, but at this time, a shocking explosion from afar turned all the efforts of Wang Guocheng into flying.
Looking at the high number that ignited the thick smoke, Fang Boqian only felt dark in front of him and fell on the deck.
At 12:43, with the withdrawal of the Jiyuan ship from the battlefield, the first maritime encounter between China and Japan ended. The Qing Dynasty lost a warship, two troop carriers, and more than a thousand officers and soldiers were martyred, and the Yoshino was only slightly injured.
It is said that the first naval battle is over!
.
.